The College Football Blog: 2012 Week 1 Betting Lines

A Note about this Year’s Betting Lines: No time for comments this week. In fact, I probably won’t be doing comments as often as usual this year. As I mentioned in the predictions entry, I considered giving up this blog but decided against it. While I may not be doing as much commentary this season, in reality nothing will really be different. Comments or not, this blog has always been (and likely always will be) interesting only to myself, and of course, the faithful imaginary reader.  

Week 1 Preview: There are a lot of great games in week 1 this year and I really like how they are spread out from Thursday to Monday. It was actually hard to pick 10 as the biggest games of the week. The one thing bothering me about my picks is that I’m worried I went with too many underdogs. 

Thursday  

Game 1: South Carolina (-6) @ Vanderbilt  

Pick: South Carolina covers

Friday

Game 2: Tennessee (-3.5) vs. North Carolina State (Atlanta)

Pick: Tennessee covers

Game 3: Boise State (+7.5) @ Michigan State

Pick: Boise State beats the spread

Saturday

Game 4: Ohio (+6.5) @ Penn State

Pick: Ohio beats the spread

Game 5: Southern Mississippi (+19.5) @ Nebraska

Pick: Southern Mississippi beats the spread

Game 6: Clemson (-2.5) vs. Auburn (Atlanta)

Pick: Auburn pulls off the upset

Game 7: Michigan (+13.5) vs. Alabama (Arlington)

Pick: Michigan beats the spread

Sunday

Game 8: Kentucky (+12.5) @ Louisville  

Pick: Kentucky beats the spread

Game 9: SMU (+8.5) @ Baylor

Pick: SMU beats the spread

Monday

Game 10: Georgia Tech (+7) @ Virginia Tech

Pick: Georgia Tech beats the spread

 

Other Games

Thursday

Central Florida (-24) @ Akron (UCF covers)

Eastern Michigan (+3) @ Ball State (EM pulls off the upset)

UCLA (-15.5) @ Rice (UCLA covers)

Massachusetts (+21) @ Connecticut (UConn covers)

Washington State (+11.5) @ BYU (Wash St beats the spread)

Minnesota (-9.5) @ UNLV (Minnesota covers)

Friday

San Jose State (+24.5) @ Stanford (Stanford covers)

Saturday

Notre Dame (-14.5) vs. Navy (Ireland) (ND covers)

Troy (-6.5) @ UAB (Troy covers)

Buffalo (+38.5) @ Georgia (Buffalo beats the spread)

Northwestern (+1) @ Syracuse (NW pulls off the upset)

Miami (OH) (+25.5) @ Ohio State (Miami (OH) beats the spread)

Marshall (+27) @ West Virginia (WV covers)

Western Michigan (+9.5) @ Illinois (WM beats the spread)

Texas-San Antonio (+6) @ South Alabama (UTSA beats the spread)

Nevada (+11) @ California (Nevada beats the spread)

Tulsa (-2) @ Iowa State (ISU pulls off the upset)

Miami (-2.5) @ Boston College (BC pulls off the upset)

Iowa (-8.5) vs. Northern Illinois (Chicago) (NIU beats the spread)

Bowling Green (+29.5) @ Florida (Florida covers)

Colorado State (+6) vs. Colorado (Denver) (CSU beats the spread)

Florida International (+2.5) @ Duke (Duke covers)

North Texas (+44) @ LSU (NT beats the spread)

Hawaii (+42) @ USC (USC covers)

Rutgers (-20.5) @ Tulane (Rutgers covers)

Texas State (+36.5) @ Houston (Houston covers)

Wyoming (+31.5) @ Texas (Wyoming beats the spread)

Toledo (+10.5) @ Arizona (Toledo beats the spread)

Arkansas State (+37) @ Oregon (Oregon covers)

Oklahoma (-29.5) @ UTEP (Oklahoma covers)

San Diego State (+15) @ Washington (SD State beats the spread)

Sunday

Kentucky (+12.5) @ Louisville (Kentucky beats the spread)

SMU (+8.5) @ Baylor (SMU beats the spread)

Monday

Georgia Tech (+7) @ Virginia Tech (GT beats the spread)